Trent Reznor Explains the State of NIN

"I'd never want to be Gene Simmons, an old man who puts on makeup to entertain kids"

Earlier this year, Trent Reznor revealed that after his current tour with Nine Inch Nails, "it's time to make NIN disappear for a while." And he announced his forthcoming small-club ["Wave Goodbye" tour](http://pitchfork.com/news/35895-final-nine-inch-nails-tour-details/ ""Wave Goodbye" tour" ), Reznor made sure to point out that "this is it." But what does it all mean? Are Nine Inch Nails over now or what?

In an email interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Reznor makes things a little less vague. Nine Inch Nails will no longer be a road-dog touring entity. But that doesn't mean we've heard that last of him. (via TwentyFourBit)

"What I specifically said or meant to convey is that NIN as a touring live band or live band that's on the road all the time is stopping," Reznor told the Inquirer "I've just reached the point ... where it has invaded every other aspect of my life. Also I think creatively, my time would be better spent on other stuff that could be NIN or outside NIN. Some of it may be collaborative things. I have a number of projects that are not music-related which I have put on the back burner for a long time..."

Reznor further explained that his decision had a lot to do with not wanting to turn into a clichĂŠ. "I'd never want to be Gene Simmons, an old man who puts on makeup to entertain kids, like a clown going to work," he said. "In my paranoia, I fear that if I don't stop this, it could become that. Because it's nice to get a paycheck, and now the only way to get a paycheck is to play live, so it's all those things swirling around in my head."

The whole interview, which touches on favorite Reznor topics like his delight at the collapse of the music industry and his origins in the industrial scene, is well worth a read. It's fascinating to see Reznor morphing into a sort of cool-uncle figure, publicly wrestling with his fear of losing his edge while most of his peers have long since fallen into self-parody.